Cigarette package



A ril 16, 1935. L. FERENCI 1,998,077

0 IGARETTE PACKAGE Filed Aug. 28, 1951 Z'Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 3

INVENTOR April 16, 1935. L. FERENCI 1,998,077

CIGARETTE PACKAGE Filed Apg. 28, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet? TTORNEY Patented Apr. 16, 1935 PATENT OFFICE oremn'rrn memes Lester Ferenci, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 28, 1931, Serial No. 559,968

1 Claim.

This invention relates to packages, more particularly to cigarette packages having a tin foil wrapper which is enclosed in an envelop of Cellophane or other suitable transparent material 6 such as glassine, its main object being to provide means for conveniently opening the package.

With this and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention consists in certain .constructions and combinations which will be hereinafter described and then more specifically set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

I With cigarette packages wrapped in a Cellophane or glassine envelop, in order to keep the contents fresh by preventing the natural moisture from escaping and to protect the cigarettes from atmospheric moisture, it is desirable to retain all or most of the envelop until all the cigarettes are used. But, unless the edge of the Cellophane or glassine envelop is nicked or otherwise broken, it isvery difficult to tear it. For the purpose of facilitating the partial removal of the envelop, the Cellophane or glassine enveloping material for the package is out in the wrapping machine from a continuous web of Cellophane or glassine by a zig-zag edged knife so as to produce serrated edges, the severed strip of Cellophane or glassine being so folded that these serrated edges overlie the top of the finished package. At the desired place,the points of the serrated edge can be easily lifted and the envelop torn away so asto expose one of the sides of the top of the tinfoil wrapper. The latter, as the foil-wrapped packages are fed into the wrapping machine, is provided with a transverse slit on one end of the package by means of a rotating circular knife so that, after the envelop has been torn away from one corner of the package, the tinfoil can be opened by lifting its folds, thus exposing a portion of the contents of the package. The slit in the tinfoil being readily visible through the envelop, no more of the latter needs to be torn away than necessary.

In the accompanying drawings in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the finished package, showing the slit in the foil wrapper and th serrated edges of the envelop;

Figs. 2 and 3 show the manner of removing enough of the envelop to expose the slit, in Fig. 2 a portion of one serrated edge, and in Fig. 3 a similar portion of the other serrated edge being torn away;

Fig. 4 shows the manner of opening the exposed corner of the tinfoil wrapper, thus giving access to the cigarettes or other articles wrapped in the package; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the wrapping machine for wrapping the improved package.

In carrying the invention into effect there is provided a; package having a wrapper whose ends are folded over the top'of the package, the folded ends of said wrapper being slit transversely of the top of said package, which is then enveloped in an envelop having serrated ends. The package so enveloped has the serrated ends overlapped on its top so that they may be readily torn away adjacent the slit in the wrapper to open the folded ends thereof to expose the contents of the package. The package above referred to may be widely varied within the scope of the claim for the particular package selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of the same. The invention therefore is not to be restricted to the precise details of the structure shown and described.

The tops of the foil wrapped packages F while being fed into the machine on the runway E, are transversely slit on the line 8 by a revolving circular cutter D supported at the proper height in a vertically adjustable bearing and driven by a belt 8. It will be understood that a paper pouch, not shown, which is open at the end to be slit, is usually wrapped about the foil wrapper on cigarette packages. The package F, upon reaching the end of the runway E is turned sideways into the position F and is transferred into position F" on a supporting plate M on which it is pushed by a plunger P across a gap to a continuation M of the plate M. .Through the said gap depends the web W of the Cellophane, glassine, or other enveloping material fed from a reel R over guide rollers G and H, the web W being cut at the proper moment by a corrugatedj or zigzag edged knife K swinging over a stationary ledger plate L. The blank C out from the web W is carried along by the package F and is folded around the same by the front edge of plate M and the lower edge of a guide plate N which leads the end of the web W into the gap between plates M and M. The serrated edges C and C" of blank 0 now project over the package F at the end into which .the slit S has previously been cut. The package F with the blank C is then carried on plate M to a station in the machine at which the folders 0 and Q, moving up and down as indicated by arrows, fold the sides of the blank C, and is finally pushed across a gap onto a plate M" on which the end folds are made by the side tuckers T and the end folders U forming a complete envelop C for the package. The only modifications required in an ordinary cigarette package wrapping machine to produce the novel package are the addition of the slitting cutter D and the replacement of the usual straight-edged web cutter by the serrated knife K.

The package produced by this novel method has a tinfoil wrapper provided with a slit in the top oof the package and enclosed in an envelop C having the serrated edges 0' and C" folded over on the top of the package. By tearing away the portion of the envelop on the corner of the package adjacent the slit S, the tinfoil may be readily opened by lifting its folds, thus permitting the contents of the package to be removed as desired. When the folds of the tinfoil wrapper are pressed down on each other again, the contents of the package will be protected from atmospheric moisture and the natural moisture of the contents will be retained. Of course, it will be understood that the package, particularly if it is a cigarette package, will preferably be provided with a paper pouch between the tinfoil wrapper and envelop.

What is claimed is:

A package having a foil wrapper the ends 0 which are folded over the top of the package and provided with a slit extending transversely of said top adjacentlone corner of the package, and a transparent envelop having its ends folded over each other on said top and provided with serrations on its end edges, whereby the ends of the envelop may be readily torn off adjacent said slit to permit the end folds of said wrapper between said slit and the-adjacent corner of the package to be lifted to expose the contents of the package and be pressed down on each other again.

LESTER FERENCL- 

